DoDDS-Pacific/DDESS-Guam Recognizes Teachers of the Year.  Instructional and creative leadership remains the foundation of success within our schools and classrooms.  This year we honor the following educators who were selected as Teacher of the Year within their districts :  William Wilder, Pusan Elementary /High School, South Korea; Paul Brennan, King High School, Japan; Louise Thompson, Zukeran Elementary, Okinawa; Jizela Dutka-Chirichetti, Guam High School, Guam.

Student wins appointment to Naval Academy.  Madison Harter , a senior at Kadena High School , received a formal acceptance letter from the Naval Academy in November.  The letter which is a “presidential appointment,” means Madison was selected from a very competitive list of applicants as there are only 100 of these appointments each year.  Madison is also in the running for one of the Air Force Academy presidential appointments.

New Math Materials and Training.  All K-12 schools are receiving the newly adopted math materials that were purchased as part of the DoDEA curriculum renewal cycle.  A series of books by Glencoe titled Mathematics Applications and Concepts will be used in the sixth through eighth grades.   Algebra 1 students will use Discovering Algebra, An Investigative Approach by Key Curriculum Press.  Other high school math courses including Geometry, Algebra II, Math Analysis, AP Calculus and AP Statistics will feature a variety of publishers.  The Math Analysis textbook titled PreCalculus and the AP Calculus textbook titled Calculus share the same authors and publisher – Addison Wesley.  This will provide continuity between those two courses.  Training for teachers on math standards, best practices, algebraic thinking, and assessment, and how to use the new materials will take place during the spring semester.

Sure Start.  Sure Start, modeled after the Head Start program, continues to provide a quality preschool experience for four-year-old children and their families in selected locations.  Our newest Sure Start program, at Ikego Elementary School, is up and running and has been positively received by the community.  Families that meet the Sure Start eligibility criteria are encouraged to apply.  Applications are accepted throughout the school year.  For more information please contact your local DoDDS elementary school.

DoDEA Addressing New Record and Data Collection System.  DoDEA introduced Chancery Student Management Solutions (SMS) at the beginning of SY 05-06.  SMS represents a major departure from the old system (Win-School) both in technology and design.  Throughout the past several months software modifications have been added in order to enhance the capabilities of the system and resolve initial start-up difficulties associated with the program. The end result will be a much better user experience which will improve access to data and thereby allow educators and administrators to spend more time helping students achieve success.

Combined Federal Campaign.  As the end of the 2005 CFC-O approaches, one thing is clear... U.S. service members and Department of Defense civilians stationed overseas care about giving to the charity(ies) closest to their hearts. Over $15 million has been pledged to date to the over 1,700 charities participating in the campaign. Employees of DoDDS-Pacific/DDESS-Guam contributed almost $245,000, representing an increase of $40,000 from the previous year.